Conspirator [Hardcover]

For anyone who wishes to read a detailed, lively and exciting biography of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (or Lenin, as he became known), the choice of books which fulfil the criteria is not as vast as one might at first suppose. Helen Rappaport's new publication, "Conspirator: Lenin in Exile" is therefore particularly welcome, as it meets the given requirements superbly. It offers readers an in-depth coverage of Lenin's life up until the summer of 1917.

I found that this book is extremely well paced. It pauses and ponders over scenes and incidents, but it avoids the danger of becoming bogged down by an overabundance of complicated philosophical analysis and discussion. The interest never flags, and the entire book is an enjoyable read. The extremely thorough "Notes" section is a real treasure trove, and is well worthy of regular consultation during reading sessions.

Lenin's portrait is very finely drawn - the workaholic, the obsessive, the intolerant and uncompromising, the theoretician, the evangelist, the professor, the eternal student, the rabble-rouser, the egocentric and the bully. His frequently shabby behaviour towards his wife Nadya Krupskaya and to his amanuensis and mistress Inessa Armand, as Rappaport rightly points out, was deplorable - Lenin could be cruel and callous in the extreme - and not only in his dealings with women. His male collaborators and associates, too, could also become the victims of his vicious streak if they were foolhardy enough to disagree with his own line of opinion, if they failed to carry out his instructions to the letter, or if they were likely to pose a threat to his own position. The portraiture of many of the other characters who flit on and off the stage is also delightfully sketched: for example, Rappaport makes some amusing observations concerning the lack of conventional domesticity exhibited by comrades Martov and Zasulich (slovenly habits about food; cigarette ash everywhere). There are a number of other instances of wry humour, e.g. "konspiratsiya" - which she defines as "the utmost secrecy or stealth in the avoidance of detection" - reads as though many of its aspects were bizarre and clumsy, even though it may frequently have been effective. Comedy, however, is most certainly not the prevailing atmosphere within the book: there are tragedies, economic problems and other personal difficulties, disappointments, and (for Lenin and his crew) moments of pathos, both in the course of the events which Rappaport describes, and in their consequences.

"Conspirator" is an exciting account of the years in exile, and displays Helen Rappaport's customary skill and verve. It provides an excellent fresh insight into Lenin the man (and, incidentally, into Nadya Krupskaya). The book should appeal to a very wide readership. Even though it does not cover Lenin's life in its entirety (and nor, for that matter, does Krupskaya's own Soviet-approved biography of her husband, which closes in 1919), "Conspirator", within the terms of the chronological limits it sets itself, is among the most useful, most readable and most forthright of the biographical studies of Lenin to have appeared so far. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Russian Revolution, Twentieth Century Russian History and Lenin have all be well documented and exhausted by academics, however Helen Rappaport's latest work; Conspirator Lenin in Exile is a breath of fresh air and I have never come across a biography of Lenin quite like this one. Rappaport documents Lenin's extraordinary life leading up to the 1917 Russian Revolution, focusing on his travelling around Europe as an exile under the shadow of the Russian Secret Police.
The book is entertaining and enlightening, full of brave characters that worked relentlessly in merciless conditions that were dedicated to the cause. What Rappaport does excellently is convey Lenin's self discipline, ambition and genius to the reader, as she follows in his footsteps through cities such as Munich, Paris and London, readers familiar with London will be surprised how close many of them travel and live to where Lenin once walked and lived.
The research of this book is excellent and cannot be criticised, I would recommend this book to those well read in Russian History and Lenin, and to those who are just dipping their toes in.
Rappaport brings a new avenue to a well tread road, something that I will recommend to all.

Having studied various aspects of the Russian Revolution and those involved, I found Helen Rappaport's work refreshing to say the least. This new perspective on Lenin offers a new and fascinating insight into not only the political activities of Lenin pre-revolution but also into his personal life. The overriding result paints a picture of a man who was a political animal, and for whom this dominated and shaped his entire adult life.

The success of Rappaport's work, however, is that she is able to recount and analyse the life of Lenin in exile without allowing the events that were to come later to in any way foreshadow or influence her words. We are therefore treated to a recount on his life based on it's merits alone, and so are able to also form a picture of Lenin the man, as well as Lenin the revolutionary.

I would cerainly recommend this book for anyone with an interest in Russian Revolutionary history, or indeed anyone with an interest in the role of the individual in history.